The present invention relates to a guide line holder, and more particularly, to such a holder suitable for holding a guide line such as is used in the laying of courses of brick.
As labor and material costs continue to rise, the expense of brick construction has increased to the point where architects and builders often seek alternative construction designs and materials. Naturally, a major factor in determining the cost of brick construction is the number of bricks a mason can lay per day in a skillful manner and without undue strain. Certain aspects of brick laying contribute heavily to the total time investment in erecting a given brickwork construction. Typically, a brickwork construction proceeds with the preparation of "leaders", consisting of a few bricks on two or more levels, above the last full course of bricks that have been laid. The leaders are constructed at the corners of a brickwork construction, and then the courses of brick intermediate the corners are filled in. The preparation of such "leaders", which must be both plumb and level, typically requires a substantial amount of time. Furthermore, with a large-scale project in which a number of masons work as a team, the masons who typically work filling in the level courses of brick between leaders often are periodically idle while additional leaders are being prepared.
Although, guide line holders have been proposed in the past, some proposed holders have required repositioning for the laying of each course of bricks; others, with varying degrees of success, have attempted to permit the laying of multiple courses of bricks with a single positioning of the guide line holder. Each proposal of the latter variety, however, has suffered from one or more various drawbacks. Thus, for example, the various guide line holders had included portions projecting into the brick walls to provide support for the holder and/or proper positioning of the holder. Such constructions, however, cause disruption of the mortar when the holder is withdrawn from the wall either after completion of the wall, or for movement to a higher position after a number of courses of brick have been laid. Additionally, such repositioning of the holder is inhibited because of the difficulty of the removal of the holder from the wall. Some of the previous proposals have included structure for contacting existing courses of brick over a substantial vertical extent (e.g., the holders of the above-mentioned Platt patents engage nine existing courses of brick), thereby limiting their usefulness in the building of a low structures, and rendering the holders difficult to reposition where scaffolding has been placed adjacent the wall under construction. A further feature of certain prior holders that has prevented them from gaining acceptance in the trade has been the interference with the work of the mason by structure of the holder above the existing courses of brick.